Shards of Felwyn

Hope, Restored

When Cosmo awoke, he found Lysander sitting across from him. Rays of late-morning sunshine subdued by the mass of leaves above them streamed into the cave. Recounting the events of the previous day within his head, Cosmo was overjoyed to be alive. Feeling some of the grogginess shift from his mind, he sat up to find a fire in the middle of the cave, with a stone bowl resting in the center. It's dry enough now to start one, I suppose... He thought as he looked around the cave. Elias was absent.

"Where has Elias gone?" He asked.

"He woke me up in the middle of the night to take watch and told me that he'd be foraging at daybreak. I woke up just a few moments ago and started a fire for him." Lysander explained. "I haven't even heard signs of the men from Trovvs, we must have lost them at last."

"That, or they're busy terrorizing some other group of strangers." Cosmo chuckled. Hearing footsteps outside the cave, the boys snapped to attention and seized their weapons.

"Don't fret, it is I." Elias spoke from outside the cave. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your satchel." As he walked into the shady cave from the bright outdoors, he held up Cosmo's satchel, now marked with stains from wild berries. Cosmo grimaced.

"Thank you for the food, Elias," Lysander said as Elias began to pile different nuts into the bowl above the fire and distribute berries among the three. Cosmo's stomach growled as he devoured the berries, their sweet tang covering his tongue and their delicious juice flowing from the corners of his mouth. The other boys felt just as ravenous.

"It's no problem. My Lady has requested that I travel with you two. If she has declared you two my brethren, then we are brothers." Elias answered through a mouthful of berries. "You can repay me by travelling quickly today. Today, we must travel perpendicular to the mountain range. If we are expedient, we can cross the rocky terrain and descend into Xhalo Ravine by tomorrow morning."

Lysander and Cosmo nodded, too focused on the wonderful taste of food in their mouths. The nuts in the bowl began to pop and crack, the hard shells flinging themselves across the cave. Lysander used magic to cool the bowl and Elias took it off of the heat, shelling the remainder of the nuts that had not cracked.

"They're Trezchina nuts, native only to the jungle bordering Xhalo Ravine," Elias spoke, showing Lysander and Cosmo as he cracked the dark brown shell in half, displaying a cream-colored inside. "The delicious interior can only be revealed once exposed to great temperatures, causing the internal pressure to rise, and the shell to burst open."

"They're amazing!" Cosmo exclaimed, taking a bite of the nut. It was almost as large as his fist.

"And packed with protein," Elias said, smiling with his mouth full. "It is said that a group of adventurers can eat a mere handful of these at daybreak and not have to eat until nightfall."

"How do you know so much about nature, Elias?" Lysander asked, polishing off three nuts in a matter of seconds.

"As I told you when we first met, I am a naturalist from Neilien. So was my father, my grandfather, and his father before him. There, tradition is taken very seriously. So, ever since I was a boy, I have been exploring the wilderness of the Clifftop Haven: tracking and studying animals, researching the plant matter and its properties, learning the history of our nation, and of Tatiova's elegance."

"If you were so familiar and comfortable at home, why did you leave?" Cosmo asked, reminiscing on how relaxed he used to feel on Coeden.

"My familiarity with my homeland is the reason I left. I departed several weeks ago after I had come of age in Neilien. All of the information I had known of the other regions was from books and legends. Thus, my father sent me off to explore elsewhere and to study the environment and nature. I pledged not to return until I had studied every creature in Felwyn. I planned to stay in Trovvs for a night before venturing to Halverwedge, where I would study the great history of our capital city. That was, until I was captured like you."